New owners, need advice please

[MamaKat]

Hi
We bought my son a Beardie for Christmas, he is just about alittle over a year old and we bought him from a nice young man who was leaving for the Navy and couldn't haul the tank all over the world My husband did a a ton of research as this would be our first beardie but everything has not gone as well as we hoped with Spike.

We picked up Spike Saturday afternoon on the 22nd, he was bathed and feed prior but has not eaten since. We have tried crickets and some wax worms but he has shown no interest in eating so far. We also offered him lettuce & peas. He is also very sedintary, he barely moves and at times he just rolls/falls off his basking spot and doesn't try to move as he is wedged up against the glass on his side or upside down.

I am sure most of this is due to relocation stress but the lack of movement especially when he falls down is really scary to me. Should we be worried? We have advised our son to not handle him much but should we try to bath him, we don't want to increase his stress? How long without eating until we should be worried? When we first got him he did not seem stressed byt the last day or two he has been pretty consistantly dark. Anytime we try to feed him he seems to be irritated.

We are debating bathing him because of the fact we'd have to handle him more.

Setup:
55 gallon, 2 Compact 10.0 UVB bulbs, dark heat bulb for basking area (not sure of brand).
Original basking rock was small so we bought a larger one that sits up higher, temp is around 103 on the surface (used infrared/laser) and 67 on the cool side.
Sand substrate

I want to increase the UVB light with some Raptisun T8 bulbs and replace sand with something else like reptile carpet. Would this be wise or is it too much change further increasing his stress since we already changed his location and basking rock?

Sorry for all of the questions, we just want to do the best we can for the little guy.

 

[slices mommy]

Someone with more experience should answer you soon. Until then I wouldn't change anything or try to bathe him. Mine took a little adjustment period..about a week when I changed him from a 30 gallon to a 75 gallon.

 

[gilliesexotics]

Hi, welcome to the forums. Is he literally rolling off the log, like a barrel roll or falling off onto his back or side?? If so that is not normal under any circumstance. I would call the gentleman back up and ask him if he has done this before or if he has known any issues this dragon has had in the past.

Dragons arent super graceful. They kinda go onto things and off things without grace most of the time.

Your guy may need some time to settle in. This can happen the second you bring him home or it can take days even up to a week or two.

Also dont settle for lesser food like mealworms or even waxworms. Keep offering crickets as your main stay. If your husbandry is correct and there is not anything wrong with the dragon health wise. He will come around

Do you have pictures of the set up and the dragon?

 

[MamaKat]

Thank you. We left a message for the gentleman we bought him from and I'm waiting to hear back. We bought him a bigger rock since the other one was for a much smaller beardie. I will take pictures of the set-up tonight.
Since he's not eating should we put a water dish in with him or bath him?

 

[MamaKat]

Thank you for the reply. I think I will try and add two 24'' Raptisuns today to replace the Compact Flourescants UVB's. I asked the previous owner about them when we picked him up and he said he recenly replaced one of them and the other was not more than a couple months old. The larger UVB CFL he had just hanging in the middle of the tank in a ceramic socket with no hood and the other smaller one was in a ceramic fixture next to the dark/heat bulb over the basking area.

I want to increase the temperature of the tank as the cool side only sits around 67-70 degrees during the day and may drop below 65 at night since my sons room is in the basement and it is cooler than the rest of the house. I was thinking of adding a under tank heating pad but it appears the may not be the best option, would a CHE be better?

Are the CHE directional heat or will they heat the whole tank? What is the best way to use them to heat the whole tank?

 

[gilliesexotics]

For heat: A normal regular house hold bulb should do the trick. Id probably start with a 60 watt but it will depend on your rooms ambient temps and size of tank. Into the 60's at night is ok for a dragon. .

 

[Germ]

A few good links to help get you started ...

Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start

Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library

Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart

Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?

How To Sex A Bearded Dragon

 

[MamaKat]

Thanks! We talked to the old owner last night and he sid to bath him as he likes those. So we did but never saw him drink or go potty We were encouraged that when we got home he had moved from on top of the rock to under the rock. Do you think Spike could be going through brumation? We put him on top of the rock after his bath to warm him up.
My husband replaced some of the lower UV lighting that he had and got a better heater for his basking spot. I included some pics of the new set-up. (if I figured out how to post pics, lol)

 

[Jesse omg it's me]

hello welcome....im not sure if somone covered this but you temps are too low...cool side should be about 80 degrees and basking temps should be about 110 degrees...what kind of sand is that do you know by chance...please dont tell me it is calcuim sand because that is very harmful if so remove the sand ASAP and replace with paper towels or newspaper umtil you decide what u want to use...you can put tile down if you would like...since she is new she might not eat for awhile because she needs to settle in....does she sleep most of the day? hope this help if i forgot anything hopefully someone tells you best of luck.

 

[Germ]

Ditto on the Calci-Sand, and temps. Colored sand will also transfer dies & stain the BDs skin. Not good choices at all.